Ministering to the forgotten children of Romania

A young woman was abandoned at birth. She was an orphan, a gypsy, and mildly handicapped. With these three strikes against her, she had no future to look forward to. At 18 she was about to be kicked out of the orphanage, the only home she knew, and then to her surprise her mother came to take her home. But soon her joy was turned into sorrow. Her mother beat her and poisoned her. One day she refused to let her mother sell her into prostitution more»

Posted on: 06/25/09

Dear Friends and Family / June 2009

Posted by: Posted by: RisingLine

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently."

Romans 8:22-25

Dear Friends and Family,

I learned a long time ago from experienced Christians, to never pray for more patience. Though I want to be patient, I don't really want to go through a trial to teach it to me. But now I know, you don't have to pray for it, God wants to give it to you anyway. As you all know my patience has been tried many times because of the adoptions for all my kids. And while I wait, there are other things to also teach it to me.

The school year is over, and everyone has graduated with straight A's! Except for Cosmin. He's 14 and the things all his friends are into, like Nostradamus, the end of the world, the mayan calander and 2012, and armageddon, are occupying their minds instead of school and life here and now. One time I had to send him to his room (14 year olds and bad attitudes...if that doesn't teach patience...what does?). He told me, "The world is ending and you're grounding me???" It was very frustrating, but I prayed (a lot!) and found an opportunity during one of our times together to talk about God. We've talked about salvation before, he listens, but hesitates. I've asked him, "Do you love God?" and his answer is always yes. But this time I told him, "You know what I think? I think you're afraid that if you give your life to Him now, you wont be able to have fun." Legalism is very big in religion here. I told him "But you know what Jesus said? I came that you might have life and have it more abundantly. He never promised an easy life, but He promised a good life" And I told him all about how when I gave my life to Jesus, that He gave me everything I have ever wanted, and more. And he asked sarcastically, "What do you have?" And I told him, "You! He told me I would be working with orphans a long time ago, and I can't believe I have all of you now. I never knew I could love anyone so much. And look, I have a big house with room for all of you, a car, we have all we need." When I started to get teary eyed, he said, "Don't cry now, we have to get out of the car!" But I saw his eyes tear up too. When we arrived home he asked, "How do you get saved?" So I told him, and he said, "Ok, I accept Jesus." I said, "What?" To which he smiled, and said, "Well, let me think about it some more." So close and yet so far! But praise God he's thinking about Him. And to my suprise, he raised his grades and graduated with a "B" average!!!

I don't want to pressure my kids to love God, or to accept Christ. I don't want them to pretend to be religious Christians, when they aren't. I want them to chose to love God because they want to, I want them to accept Him because they want to. And I want to be patiently waiting for them, for their earthly and spiritual adoptions.

Praises:

Sophia's mother never showed up, BUT during a suprise visit from the from the Deva office of Children's protection, I found out that the main office in Bucharest got involved in Sophia's adoption case. They asked if I made a complaint against them, and I said NO. But after they left I realized I did write the Secretary of State for the Office of Romanian Adoptions, but only to tell him how glad I was he is in office and that I was praying for God to give him strength and wisdom, and then told him about Sophia's case and that I met other Romanian families in similiar situations. I never heard back from him. But now Sophia's case is back in the courts!!! God completely suprised me!
All the kids graduated and are doing so well, they amaze me. They have been through so much, and yet are so normal that I can't believe it. Roxana won first place in her english class. David won first place overall in his class, and Tabita won first place too! Sophia graduated what we would call prekindergarten and starts kindergarten next year! Cosmin didn't get any awards, but I'm still so proud of him. I get money from the state every month for foster care. I used it to get him a scooter so he could hang out with his "good" friends.
I made a last minute decision to go to the states again with some good friends who had visited us for 2 weeks. Their son is a dentist and has been working on my teeth for free! God bless him because I thought I only had two bad teeth that caused extreme pain for over a year now. But over several visits, he fixed many many more. He and his wife let me stay with them in Sacramento and closed down their office several times just for me. I finally have no more pain and can't believe I lived so long that way. Praise God for brothers and sisters in Christ who are so merciful to people like me!
Marie's House now has windows and doors! Just a little more patience and I know it will be done soon!
After years of frustration, Ramona finally has her ID card!!!

Prayer Requests:

Sophia's first court date is July 8th! Please pray!
During the surprise visit from Children's protection, I was asked to take in another 14 year old girl, Alina, whom I have known since she was 8. She visits us often and I know would fit right in. I told them yes, but her parents refused to sign her over. I just figured maybe God is waiting for Marie's House to finish before she comes to stay with us. But about a month later I got another call saying her father is dying, and wants to sign her over now! She was labeled as mentally handicapped and though I know she's developmentally delayed, she's not severely handicapped.
Pray for Alina and Ramona, both need special care and I need wisdom in finding where to get them help so they can live a productive life, not always dependant on me. Ramona accepted Jesus, so I know she will have an abundant life regardless, but Alina has not....yet.
Pray for Marie's House to finish so there will be room for everyone! Tika, our friend and construction worker, will be coming to work on it when his other job is done the end of July.
Pray for Sophia to be able to come with me next time I visit to the states...not for a dentist appointment this time...but to visit my church and as many of you as I can!

In His Love,

Kelly